Conventionally, ceramic packages may be manufactured according to a low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) method or a high temperature co-fired ceramic (HTCC) method.
In the LTCC method, the sintering temperature is low, on the level of 950° C. or less. Hence, it may be difficult to manufacture ceramic packages having high strength.
The HTCC method allows for the implementation of higher strength, relative to the LTCC method, and therefore is widely used in the field of packaging, in which materials having high strength are required. The HTCC method may be used to manufacture ceramic packages having three-point bending strength of about 740 MPa.
Because the HTCC method requires a sintering temperature of 1600° C. or higher, however, a tungsten (W) or molybdenum (Mo) electrode is used on a surface or in the interior of the ceramic package, and both tungsten (W) and molybdenum (Mo) have very strong oxidizing properties. This is problematic because, in the HTCC method, the sintering process is executed in a very strong reducing atmosphere. Hence, it may be difficult to control the atmosphere.